Saturday, December 6, 2014

This was a spot where the lahar on the White River inundated the forest floor more heavily, and most of them beyond the few survivors in the mid-ground appear quite dead. This may look like an ecological disaster, but keep in mind, these Douglas firs have evolved along with this volcanic environment for millions of years. They'll rebound, in time, quite well, thank you. There was a terrific blog post a few days ago from Hollis Marriott at In The Company of Plants and Rocks discussing how debris flows (non-volcanic, in that case) create a highly desirable setting for new Doug fir forests to become established.

There was a lot of road work going on this this area, and while we weren't stopped until we got to the bridge, traffic was slow, so it's difficult to estimate just how far we traveled through this damaged forest. It felt like miles, though it might have just been a couple. We still hadn't had a decent view of Mount Hood through the haze and smoke, but we were now up close to pass level, above a lot of it. And then we turned a corner...